Are states, National Guard the answer to illegal immigration?

Tuesday

Aug 12, 2014 at 11:00 AM

A recent Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of 1,000 likely U.S. voters finds that 59 percent rate the government’s performance in this area as poor.

Sixty percent believe a state should have the right to enforce current immigration laws if it believes the federal government is not enforcing them. Just 28 percent disagree, while 12 percent are undecided.

This is comparable to findings in December 2011 when Arizona announced its intention to go it alone because of the federal government’s failure to enforce immigration laws. But the Obama administration challenged the state’s effort in court, and the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately limited what Arizona could do.

Texas Governor Rick Perry also has been critical of the federal government’s handling of the current immigration crisis and has announced plans to send his state’s National Guard to the border to stop the flow of illegal immigrants. Sixty-one percent of voters nationwide favor using their state’s National Guard if necessary to deal with illegal immigration. Only 27 percent are opposed. Twelve percent (12 percent) are not sure.

By a narrower 49 percent to 38 percent margin, voters think the federal government should be required to reimburse states that feel compelled to use their National Guard to deal with illegal immigration. Thirteen percent (13 percent ) are not sure.

Voters think President Obama is doing a poor job handling the latest immigration crisis and believe he wants most of these new illegal immigrants to stay here despite majority support for their quick deportation.